Defense

Fly-By-Wire F-15SA makes first flight

Boeing photograph by Kevin Flynn

An F-15SA makes its first flight over St. Louis on Feb. 20, 2013. The advanced fighter features a Fly-By-Wire flight control system and is being built by Boeing for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, oversees program management for the foreign military sale, the largest in U.S. history.

The U.S. Air Force and its prime contractor Boeing have completed a successful first flight of the new F-15SA advanced fighter aircraft for the Royal Saudi Air Force.

The F-15SA’s maiden voyage took place on Feb. 20, 2013, at the Boeing facilities in St. Louis, Mo. The flight went as planned, meeting all test objectives to support the aircraft’s on-schedule development.

“The successful first flight of the F-15SA is a tremendous milestone for the program and a testament to the relationship between the USAF, Boeing, and our RSAF partners,” said Lt. Gen. C. D. Moore II, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “The F-15SA will add critical capability to the RSAF and enhance the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

The new aircraft is the centerpiece of the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 Fleet Modernization Program, a wide-ranging $29.4 billion effort that stands as the largest foreign military sale in U.S. history.

Col. Robert Stambaugh, the USAF Security Assistance Program Manager for the F-15SA program at Robins AFB, Ga., highlighted the joint efforts of the USAF program office at Wright-Patterson AFB and the Boeing team.

“Col. Rob Strasser and his program team at Wright-Patt were instrumental in overcoming the hurdles encountered in the march to first flight. Completing this major milestone in less than one year after program implementation was truly remarkable.”

The F-15SA flight test program will include three instrumented F-15SAs operating from Boeing facilities at St. Louis and Palmdale, Calif. F-15SA new aircraft deliveries to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are scheduled to begin in 2015 and conclude by 2019.

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